Tuesday, January 31, 2006


Well, I hit the 17.7 mile mark this past weekend. It actually went better than the 16 miler cause I drank more water. The 10 mile mark was really good so I pushed from then on. My hat goes off to those who run the whole way in a marathon. I have too many issues with my knees and such to be bold enough to do that. So, my walk /run strategy is what I've settled on.

I'm using a heart rate monitor to gauge my effort and this is what I've come up with. I'm 233lbs right now. According to the heart rate monitor I used up 5, 888 calories on my 17.7 mile walk. I subtracted 20% off of that because I wrote Timex about this and they told me that the HRM could be off from 5% to 25%. So I settled on 20% and that's what I take off every time I use it. That is still a whopping 4,710 calories for the trek. I also weighed myself at the beginning before going out to see how much fluid I would loose. The difference was about four pounds. I drank 68 ounces of Gatorade mixed with protein during the walk plus I had a large oatmeal breakfast with Chia seeds in the mix to slow carbohydrate absorption. The Chia seeds sustain me for quite a while but I make sure to drink my fluids so as not to get dehydrated. Like I said this time around the walk was much better, I did not cramp up at any point and was recovered by Saturday morning. So on to the next phase. Next week and 8 miler and then back to 18.7 miles.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Flower garden in amusement park.

I've been counting calories now for quite a while. I first used Fitday.com, then I bought the program to enter the data on my laptop or desktop. Got tired of that. I now use my PDA, created and Excel workbook and just enter what I eat. I get my calorie counts from http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/ or http://www.nutrientfacts.com/ , I also have a small book that gives me pretty much every food item I will ever eat (The Complete Food Counter). In any case it keeps me honest. I've been drinking a lot more water lately so I'm full all the time and I only eat six times a day now instead of eight or nine. My weight has progressively improved and I feel much better. At the beginning of last year at was around 245, I'm at 233 today and I can squat or dead lift my own body weight with ease. So there is some progress. The LA Marathon is on the horizon so I have to keep focused. One thing is for sure, working out and eating healthy makes me enjoy my work even though it is a sit down affair most of the day, I know I'm not destined to be what I was 284 at one point (I think that was with my hiking boots on though).

Monday, January 23, 2006

Here we go, another week. I had a good workout, rejoined the local Gym for a grand total of $35.00 per year (yes, that's the total cost for the entire year!).

I had a good weekend, spent some time wiht my cousin and one of his sons (visiting from another country) and so my family got together for dinner and we had a real good time. Our dinner was quite healthy to boot and did not over do it. We laughed our heads off, reminiscing and talking about our life experiences. I gave him a gift in the form of a framed photograph I took while visiting in Yosemite which he loved.

Guatemala has some tropical forests competing in beauty with the places we see around here. Have to go visit some day and see how things have changed. Other relatives are still there and doing well.

Friday, January 13, 2006



Friday the 13th, January 2006. The LA Marathon is just around the corner. Today I hit the 15.7 mile mark. I tried Chia seeds with my breakfast before going out on my walk/run. I prepared the seeds by leaving them soking in water over night. They became a gelatinous concoction that I spread over an almond butter sourdough sandwich for the road plus I also mixed in my oatmeal breakfast.

I felt pretty good going out, in fact I felt so good that I had no water for the first two hours and that my friends was my mistake. I cramped up on the 13.x mile and had to slow down. The Chia mixture gave a an exhilarated feeling and I over did it L. In any case I will not be repeating that mistake. I will have my water at appropriate intervals. Two weeks from now I will be aiming for the 16-17mile mark. I’m recovering quite well though. So on to the next phace. Chia seeds were used by the Aztecs for prolonged treks, so I guess it is appropriate that I use for my marathon training.